Man wanted in chase in Osage County, arrested during search

LINN, Missouri (KMIZ)

A man who led police on a chase was arrested Wednesday following a manhunt that began after the chase.

Osage County Sheriff's officials arrested Zachery Wheeler after receiving multiple calls to the Highway 89 Spur. The sheriff's office initially wrote on social media that it was investigating a call about suspicious activity after a man allegedly knocked on doors and fled into a wooded area.

Sheriff Michael Bonham told ABC 17 News that a tracking dog tracked Wheeler to a Capital Quarries construction site near Highway 50. Drone crews from Callaway and Osage counties found Wheeler at the quarry and deputies eventually arrested him. He was taken to the Osage County Jail, Bonham said.

The search led to the closure of the Osage County R-2 School District on Wednesday. The school's athletic department held its regular practices Wednesday afternoon and the district announced that classes would resume Thursday.

According to the Osage County Sheriff's Facebook page, a suspect crashed and escaped after a chase on Tuesday. The sheriff's office said the pursuit began in Franklin County and went through Gasconade County before entering Osage County, where the crash occurred.

Wheeler crashed near Highway 50 East and Highway 89 North, about two miles from Linn High School. The sheriff's office said in a later Facebook post that the vehicle struck a fence and went down a hill before coming to a stop.

Two women in the vehicle were identified as Tavia Krueger and Ashley Lund, according to a social media post from the Osage County Sheriff's Office. Krueger has an outstanding warrant for her arrest in Franklin County for failure to appear.